SHORTHAND

Anyone under a certain age won't understand or appreciate this bit. And it's not spiritual. I took this college class in Oklahoma wanting to add to my skills at work and be more adept at taking notes in other classes. Overall, I'm not very good at it -- but I use it still today when writing away from my computer -- OR, slyly, if writing a comment I don't want anyone to figure out if they come across it, sometimes even in my Bible. To me, THAT makes it worthwhile; in a culture where nothin' ain't hardly ever truly confidential if we've written it [or even thought it hard enough], shorthand has become a blessing since so few people in our present day can figure it out. [I came across this recently and today I started to pop it into the shorthand text book that I've had for many years, and decided to put it out to you first. NOW it will go into the book.]

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In years to come
When people say,
"And what did you accomplish?"
It may depress us
To look back and think,
I'm going no place.
But, dear, take heart,
Although our lives
Aren't glorious as planned,
If nothing else
We'll say with pride,
"I made it through shorthand."

I know this poem
Really stinks
In meter and in rhyme.
I grasp at straws
But a good poem
Takes not just skill, but time.
For four whole months,
Time has fled
The hours sift like sand.
We've done nothing else
Than, day and night,
More shorthand, Shorthand, SHORTHAND!

Our children scream,
Our husbands fuss,
Our friends all think we're crazy.
We may have flaws
But we found out
No one can say we're lazy.
The midnight oil is burning low,
The flame will not be fanned --
'Cuz we're burned out.
We say "Farewell"
To each other -- and to shorthand.

To my classmates
Finals Night
April 30, 1984